A slip of the tongue
by Gomboc123
Summary: "Are you... proposing to me?" A sudden confession creates an awkward situation; or the moment Roy realizes how crucial it is to think before he speaks. Royai.


A prompt from tumblr from a little while ago

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"So have you ever thought about it- marriage, I mean?" Roy's head quirked up as he asked the question, dark eyes suddenly on Riza and suddenly serious.

Riza hesitated, staring up at the stars the two had come out to watch rather than meeting his gaze, "A little bit. But not very seriously. I've only just turned sixteen, after all," the sky seemed to shine brighter that night, the moon and faraway galaxies illuminating her face better than Roy's flashlight ever could.

"That's understandable," Shrugged Roy, eyes refusing to leave Riza as he contemplated what he wanted to say. Silence soon descended on the pair, not lonely or uncomfortable, but one swimming with the thoughts of the young couple it surrounded.

Roy opened his mouth to speak once more, but before he could squeak a sound out, Riza's soft voice rang out over the hill they sat on, "That's not to say I've never thought about it, though," Her hand picked at a long piece of grass which hung low over their picnic blanket, "It's just… Having grown up in a town where nobody particularly likes me, it's been a bit difficult to think about the prospect of marriage being a realistic one. As if anyone here would _want_ to marry me."

Her brown eyes still remained downcast, leaving Roy to process her confession in silence and without any further details.

Knowing that Riza's classmates thought her strange, and the adults in New Optain continuously whispered about her "lunatic" father should have led Roy to the conclusion that she'd never considered marriage a viable option for her. But it hadn't. He'd been too caught up in how smart and engaging and overall wonderful Riza was, that he'd ignored everyone else.

Although she certainly hadn't.

And the realization hit Roy like a trainwreck. His lips moved as if they had a mind of their own, and before he knew it, the words were spilling out loud and clear.

"I want to marry you."

As quickly as Roy's mouth had betrayed him, Riza's head whipped around, gold hair flying around her and brown eyes wider than Roy had ever seen them before.

"I mean… I realize you're wonderful… and- and…" Another treason from his mouth, which now refused to say anything clearly at all.

"Are you… proposing to me?" Riza's question was urgent and desperate, telling of how confused she had been rendered by his confession.

 _Was he proposing to her?_ No, it hadn't been a proper proposal. It had just been a slip of the tongue, "Well what- Riza. I think you're amazing, and I wouldn't be opposed to spending the rest of my life with you," His wide-eyed gaze met hers, and he saw stars in Riza's eyes. Whether they came from the sky's reflection or her own personality, he didn't know.

"But I guess this isn't a proposal. It's just an observation," He watched her chest rise and fall with every deep breath she took, "It's me saying that maybe someday in the future, when we're both older and we know what we want to do with our lives, I wouldn't be opposed to marrying you. Right now I'm not ready to be proposing, but if you still love me when we're adults, I'd love to propose for real. I want to marry you sometime in the future if you feel the same way."

Not a stellar explanation, Roy knew, but good enough for having come up with something on the spot with the girl of his dreams staring into his soul. Her scrutiny was excruciating. Almost as bad as her silence.

Wind blew across their set-up, moving Riza's hair from it's place tickling the tops of her shoulders to dancing across her face, breaking her stare. Roy's unruly black mop of hair stood straight up; he could feel it. Centuries passed with the two of them regarding one another in silence, trying to read the other. But finally Riza's response found its way into the space between them.

"Maybe someday in the future, when I've finished school, and you're off doing whatever you can to help the country as you do, I'd like to marry you too," Her fingers went back to fidgeting, "I'm not ready for anything as serious as marriage right now, but I do know that I always want you to be a part of my life."

Roy let go of the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, "So even though this wasn't a proposal, you're saying you want to marry me too?"

Riza looked back up at the stars, not knowing what the future would bring her, but being certain of the fact that she _needed_ to stay with Roy when she was older, "Yes, I want to marry you too. And even many years after now, you can still be certain of it."


End file.
